(QLD)

Brisbane Southern Suburbs

Marginal Labor 2.4%

Election Result

MP

Profile

Predominantly Logan City Council electorate on the southern edge of Greater Brisbane. From west to east, it includes the suburbs of Hillcrest, Browns Plain, Boronia Heights, Regents Park, Crestmead, Marsden, Berrinba, Kingston, Woodridge, Underwood, Springwood, Slacks Creek and Shailer Park. Covers 160 sq.km.

Redistribution

The new boundaries have moved Rankin east of the South East Freeway, picking up Springwood and Shailer Park in Logan City Council, while losing the Brisbane City Council suburbs of Algester, Stretton, Sunnybank Hills and Runcorn to the west of the Gateway Motorway. This produces a turnover of about 30,000 voters and quite a change in demographics, the Labor margin falling from 6.7% to 2.4%.

History/Trivia

Created in 1984 and named after Dame Annabelle Rankin, Australia's first female Commonwealth Minister with departmental responsibility. She was a Queensland Senator (1946-71), and Minister for Housing (1966-71). When she retired, she was succeeded by the Parliament's first Aboriginal member, Neville Bonner. This seat was held for Labor by David Beddall 1984-98. At 16.1% according to the 2001 Census, Rankin has the country's highest proportion of one parent families with dependent children.

2-Party Booth Result

Labor won 15 of the 30 booths used in 2001, the Labor vote ranging from 33.5% at Shailer Park to 70.5% in Kingston. The seat contains quite a social mix of suburbs, and with booths drawn from Labor held Rankin and Liberal held Fadden, the booth results also reflect the different intensity of Labor's electorate campaigning in 2001.